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Toothless and badly-timed as the indictment of Sudan's president may be, morally we cannot afford not to support it.

… The timing was unfortunate. Many in the Arab world are still reeling from the recent incursion into Gaza and governments are continuing to capitalise on anti-western sentiment. The ostensible hypocrisy of targeting Bashir when apparently Israel and the west are impune renders his martyrdom on the altar of international double standards convenient for Arab or African heads of state living in their own glass houses.

Every media outlet is giving a voice to a plethora of self appointed political pundits, common-sense-loathing activists, and confused citizens of the earth, all trying to make sense of the International Criminal Court’s issuance of a warrant for the arrest of Omar Al-Bashir. However, the one voice that seems to have been muffled by the pandemonium surrounding the issue is that of the Sudanese citizen. I ask: what about me Luis Ocampo?

(…)

… the pragmatist in me is questioning the effectiveness of the ICC’s decision, and the extent of ‘justice’ it will provide for the victims of the Darfur conflict. It could be too early for the man on the street to speculate, but I sincerely hope that Luis Ocampo and the ICC have a follow-up plan to assuage the commotion caused by the indictment of a sitting head of state. Does the ICC consider this the end result, or a starting point in the quest of peace and justice in Sudan? This question remains unanswered.

Now, let's see what AK, also a student in the United States, has to say.

The first thing that I noticed was the fact that the Court only charged him on two of three accusations, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The prosecutor did not get his third request for the crime of genocide. This is very telling. Both the first two crimes can be very easily proven and linked back to Al-Bashir, however, the third accusation (of genocide) cannot be as easily proven or linked back to the President.

… Also, the ‘Save Darfur‘ crowd in the United States cannot be happier. In fact, they are using this opportunity to raise funds, as if this arrest warrant is all due to their so-called “advocacy.” This is a snapshot of their website's home page taken after the arrest warrant was issued.

Along with most Sudanese I know, I am very critical of Save Darfur (et al.). They have been the strongest proponents of intervention in Sudan, something which will undoubtably exacerbate the situation for the worse. But I'll leave that for a later time.

(…)

Here is a clip of the scenes from Khartoum today:

AK also posted this video of Sudanese ICC supporters and Bashir supporters clashing in NYC.

At about 1:30 in the clip, you can see the clashes between the Bashir and ICC supporters.

Next up, we have Mimzwith her thoughts and an important observation on what the ICC's decision could mean to this year's planned elections in Sudan.

I am not a big fan of El-Bashir, in fact I despise the man (would be an understatement) for what he has been putting our country and our people through for the past god knows how long. But the ICC just could not delay this decision, which we all knew was coming, and felt the need to make it today and ignore the fact that the first democratic elections in more than twenty years are expected this year.

Now the warrant has been issued and exactly what this means for Sudan I do not know. But what I do know is that expelling the activities of 10 of the aid agencies does not help either. Hasn't the average Sudanese suffered enough? Now that these agencies can no longer do their work – who will step in and fill the gap? I am so angry at not only this reaction in Sudan but by the idiotic ruling of the ICC in the first place.

Is there a connection between the award of oil contracts to China by Sudan and the witch hunt against President Omar Al Bashir.? US Agribusiness failed to get a foothold in Zimbabwe hence punitive sanctions and allround villification. What will happen to Venuezuela now that President Chavez has ordered US Agribusiness to produce food for Venezuelans and not for export only?.

France, which is on the forefront in adopting and supporting the ICC move against the Sudan, has readily rejected the findings of the Independent Commission of investigation into the Rwanda Genocide of 1994, that, following more than two years of investigation, accused the French Government not only of being aware of the preparations for the Genocide, and helping train the perpetrators, but also of direct involvement in the killings. Published in August 2008, the report named 33 French Politicians and Military Senior Officers as suspects to be prosecuted with regards to the Genocide. Among them are the Late President Mitterand and two former Prime Ministers; Allan Juppe, and Dominique Villepain. The report confirmed the accusations that have been haunting France for the past 14 years of partial responsibility of the Genocide, especially in the light of the fact that the main supporter of the Rwandan government responsible of the genocide and the presence of significant French Military in Rwanda at the time. In fact, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) through its ten years investigation produced sufficient evidence to try French Government Officials. Rather than co-operating with the ICTR France actually did its best to undermine its work. In June 2004, the European Court of Human Rights condemned France for sheltering suspected perpetrators of Rwanda Genocide wanted by the ICTR. The Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights asserted that cases related to the Rwandan Genocide had been in general met by “Certain Coolness by the French Judiciary Authorities”.

6. Despite having the power to initiate his own investigation upon receiving information about possible occurrence of crimes that the Rome Statute covers, the ICC prosecutor has adamantly rejected to act on documented complaints about atrocities committed by the US occupying forces in Iraq. He has equally been reluctant to act on the complaints by the Palestine National Authority about the recent Israeli heinous atrocities in Gaza. Israel crimes have been characterized as war crimes by a UN investigation committee in 2006, headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, but has been continuously shielded in the Security Council by US and the UK.